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Thread: GTM Trans-Am?

  1. #1
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    GTM Trans-Am?

    YES!!!

    So the United States Touring Car Championship race this weekend was combined with the Trans-Am series at Sonoma Raceway.

    Just for fun, Carl Rydquist decided that he would like to run not only the USTCC race but also try and get some track time by running with Trans-Am.

    There were just a couple of problems...

    First was that the team had decided to just show up on Sunday to run the USTCC race and so had not qualified for Trans-Am on Saturday.

    Also, the car had to meet tech inspection for Trans-Am.

    And then there was the fact that the Trans-Am series is sponsored by Pirelli and the USTCC is sponsored by Hankook. In other words, we didn't have any legal tires and Pirelli did not have any our size on hand.

    So after some bartering including Carl's first born child, Trans-Am agreed to let the GTM run but it must change a couple of minor things before the next race if we want to run with them again. They allowed us to start from the back for Trans-Am, and our arch rivals, Flying Lizard, who happened to be at Sonoma this weekend, sold us a pair of their old, used Pirellis so we could run this race.

    So far, pretty darn lucky that everything fell into place. But wait! There's more!

    So Carl starts last in the 25 car Trans-Am field and just immediately goes to work on moving up the field. Passing one, then another, then 3-4 cars. By the 10th lap of a scheduled 40 he is running 7th overall!

    About half way through the race a couple of the really fast cars have issues and he moves up to sixth!

    Then in the last ten laps of the race it appears that some of the front runners have worn their tires out. Carl is about 20 seconds back from 5th and picking up 1-2 seconds a lap!

    Then some luck from lap traffic and the fact that Carl is maintaining his first couple laps race pace and he moves into 5th!

    I'm losing my mind at this point and then the unthinkable happens...he passes the 4th place car with a couple laps to go and finishes just off the podium!!!!

    I mean THIS is TRANS-AM! These are some seriously fast cars with some seriously talented drivers. Some of these cars push 900 HP while we have a little over 500. This is AMAZING!

    Then, after the hour and 10 minute Trans-Am race the crew changed the tires, put fuel in the car and Carl went out and won the USTCC race overall!

    It just goes to show that the FFR PDG GTM and our drivers have taken this car to extreme performance levels.

    It was an epic weekend, and one for the history books, with special thanks to our sponsors...Factory Five Racing, Mendeola Transaxles, MyRaceShop.com, and Baja Designs Lighting.

    More of the Trans-Am story can be read here...

    http://gotransam.com/news/Wild-Weeke...-Victory/69396
    Last edited by crash; 06-17-2019 at 11:06 AM.
    www.myraceshop.com

    GTM solution kits
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  3. #2
    Senior Member beeman's Avatar
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    Incredible! Thanks for sharing! Does Carl ever stop by this site?
    MK3.1 2004 Mach 1 donor. ABS, PS, TC.
    GTM #304 LPE 525hp LS3
    2000 C5 Lingenfelter LS1@489hp
    1999 Corvette FRC/Z06 track car

  4. #3
    VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC's Avatar
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    Very Impressive!! Wow!...Congrats!
    Shane Vacek
    VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC
    www.vraptorspeedworks.com
    Turn-key GTM, SL-C & Ultima GTR Built to Your Specs!
    Offering a full line of GTM Upgrades and Custom Parts

  5. #4
    Senior Member jamesfr58's Avatar
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    Way to go, impressive run coagulations are in order !!

  6. #5
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    I believe he is a member, but rarely stops in. He works for Tesla and they have him, literally, running around the globe working on projects.
    www.myraceshop.com

    GTM solution kits
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  7. #6
    Administrator David Hodgkins's Avatar
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    Absolutely Amazing!!

    I have a question if you don't mind: I know the PDG GTM is heavily modified. Have you made any of your advances available to FFR to incorporate in their design?

    Congratulations. The PDG GTM is truly a wondercar and the team has everything to do with it's unprecedented success!


    FFR 5369 Pin Drive, IRS, Trigos, Torsen, Wilwoods, FMS BOSS 302 "B" cam , Mass-flo. CA SB100 (SPCN) Registered
    Delivered 4/23/06. "Finished" 4/2012 (still not done!)


  8. #7
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    My thinking is that these forums pretty well inform anyone, even FFR, of the things that need to be addressed. Would I offer some of the simple things like a working air bleed system for the cooling system as a suggestion? Yes, absolutely. It is a relatively simple fix and brings the cooling system up to OEM standards. There are a number of other areas, but really the person to talk to is Shane Vacek as he has dealt with many more issues while building many more kits than we have. If we don't like something we cut it off, or add it on, or reconfigure to our liking, whereas Shane has to come up with fixes that work on every GTM kit that comes through his door. If we find it hard to access the rear of the car we simply cut the body in two and use a line of Dzuses to put it back together. We can do things like that on a race car, but on a street car things need to be addressed slightly differently.
    Last edited by crash; 06-17-2019 at 05:02 PM.
    www.myraceshop.com

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  9. Thanks David Hodgkins thanked for this post
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  10. #8
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    Wow! Team PDG just keeps moving the line
    Great job
    Cheers,
    Dave

    GTM # 294 Build Start Date 10/12/2009,
    2000 C5 Donor, LS-1 Twin Turbo, AC/Heat, G50-20.02 6 speed, Brandwood Cable shifter
    Build site. http://s679.photobucket.com/albums/vv153/dfraser/

  11. #9
    LCD Gauges's Avatar
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    Great news! Congrats to you and everyone involved.

    I'm can almost feel your excitement from the words jumping out of the screen!
    Custom LCD Gauges , Data Loggers, Control Touch Screens
    www.LCDdash.com \\ 647-522-9953 \\ Voice & Text
    Proud new owner of GTM Gen 1., #105 - 08/27/11
    LQ9 Powered, G96.00 6 speed transaxle

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